Bahlul Khan Lodi (; died 12 July 1489) was the chief of the

Afghan Afghan or Afgan may refer to: Related to Afghanistan *Afghans, historically refers to the Pashtun people. It is both an ethnicity and nationality. Ethnicity wise, it refers to the Pashtuns. In modern terms, it means both the citizens of Afghanist ...

Lodi tribe. He was the founder of the

Lodi dynasty The Lodi dynasty was an Afghan royal family that ruled Sultanate of Delhi from 1451 to 1526. It was the fifth and final dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate, and was founded by Bahlul Lodi when he replaced the Sayyid dynasty. Bahlul Lodi Followin ...

from the

Delhi Sultanate The Delhi Sultanate or the Sultanate of Delhi was a Medieval India, late medieval empire primarily based in Delhi that stretched over large parts of the Indian subcontinent for more than three centuries.

, upon the abdication of the last claimant from the previous

Sayyid ''Sayyid'' is an honorific title of Hasanid and Husaynid lineage, recognized as descendants of the Islamic prophet Muhammad through his daughter Fatima and Ali's sons Hasan ibn Ali, Hasan and Husayn ibn Ali, Husayn. The title may also refer ...

rule. Bahlul became

Sultan Sultan (; ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be use ...

of the dynasty on 19 April 1451 (855 AH).

Early life

Bahlul's grandfather, Malik Bahram Khan Lodi, was a Lodi tribal chief of the Shahu Khēl clan of the Prangi tribe from

Dera Ismail Khan Dera Ismail Khan (; Urdu and , ), abbreviated as D.I. Khan, is a city and capital of Dera Ismail Khan District, located in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It is the 10th largest city of Pakistan and third or fourth largest in the province of Khy ...

.History and Culture of the Indian People
The Delhi Sultanate
' Vol-VI (1980) by R.C. Majudar, A.D. Pusalker and A.K. Majumdar (Third Edition) He later took service under the governor of Multan, Malik Mardan Daulat. Bahram had five sons. His eldest son, Malik Sultan Shah Lodi, later served under the

Sayyid dynasty The Sayyid dynasty was the fourth dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate, with four rulers ruling from 1414 to 1451 for 37 years.See: * M. Reza Pirbha, Reconsidering Islam in a South Asian Context, , Brill * The Islamic frontier in the east: Expansion ...

ruler Khizr Khan and distinguished himself by killing in the battle Khizr's worst enemy, Mallu Iqbal Khan. He was rewarded with the title of Islam Khan and in 1419 appointed the governor of

Sirhind Sirhind is a Twin cities, twin city of Fatehgarh Sahib in Punjab, India, Punjab, India. It is hosts the municipal council of Fatehgarh Sahib district. Demographics In the 2011 census of India, 2011 census Sirhind-Fatehgarh had a population of ...

. Bahlul, the son of Malik Kala Khan Lodi (the younger brother of Malik Sultan) was married to Malik Sultan's daughter.Majumdar, R.C. (ed.) (2006). ''The Delhi Sultanate'', Mumbai: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, pp.134–36, 139–142Mahajan, V.D. (1991, reprint 2007). ''History of Medieval India'', New Delhi: S. Chand, , pp.245–51 In his youth, Bahlul was involved in the trading of horses and once sold his finely bred horses to the Sayyid dynasty Sultan Muhammad Shah. As a payment he was granted a ''pargana'' and raised to the status of ''amir''. After the death of Malik Sultan, he became the governor of

. He was then allowed to add

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

to his charge. Once, Sultan Muhammad Shah asked for his help when the Malwa Sultan Mahmud Khalji invaded his territory. Bahlul joined the imperial army with 20,000 mounted soldiers. By his cleverness, he was able to project himself as a victor over the army of the Malwa Sultan and Sultan Muhammad Shah conferred on him the title of ''Khan-i-Khanan''. He also accepted Bahlul's occupation over a large part of Punjab. In 1443, Bahlul attacked Delhi but he did not succeed. During the reign of last Sayyid ruler Sultan Alam Shah, Bahlul again made an unsuccessful attempt to capture Delhi in 1447. In 1448, when Alam Shah retired to Badaun, a minister of Alam Shah, Hamid Khan invited him to occupy the throne of Delhi. After the voluntary abdication of the throne by Alam Shah, Bahlul Shah ascended the throne of

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

on 19 April 1451 and adopted the title of ''Bahlul Shah Ghazi''. Alam Shah continued to live in Badaun until his death in July 1478.

Reign

Map_of_the_Sharqi_Dynasty_of_the_Jaunpur_Sultanate

After ascending to the throne, Bahlul decided to dispose of Hamid Khan. His cousin and brother-in-law Malik Mahmud Khan alias Qutb-ud-din Khan (Governor of Samana) imprisoned Hamid Khan. In 1479, Sultan Bahlul Lodi defeated and annexed the

Jaunpur Sultanate The Jaunpur Sultanate () was a late medieval Indian Muslim state which ruled over much of what is now the Indian states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar and southern Nepal between 1394 and 1494. It was founded in 1394 by Khwajah-i-Jahan Malik Sarwar ...

based at Jaunpur. He fortified the city of Jaunpur and turned it into a

kasbah A kasbah (, also ; , , Maghrebi Arabic: ), also spelled qasbah, qasba, qasaba, or casbah, is a fortress, most commonly the citadel or fortified quarter of a city. It is also equivalent to the term in Spanish (), which is derived from the same ...

with several

mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...

s and

madrasa Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , ), sometimes Romanization of Arabic, romanized as madrasah or madrassa, is the Arabic word for any Educational institution, type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whet ...

s. Bahlul did much to stop rebellions and uprisings in his territories, and extended his holdings over Jaunpur and upper

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

. Just like the previous Delhi Sultans, he kept

the capital of his kingdom. In 1486, he appointed his son, Babrak Shah as

viceroy A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the Anglo-Norman ''roy'' (Old Frenc ...

of Jaunpur. In time, this proved to be problematic, as his second son, Nizam Khan ( Sikandar Lodi) was named successor, and a power struggle ensued upon his death in July 1489. The site of his grave is disputed. The Archeological Survey of India has long designated a building close to the shrine of the noted

Sufi Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...

saint Nasiruddin Chirag-e-Delhi in a locality that goes by his name, 'Chirag Delhi', as Bahlul Lodi's tomb. Other historians argue that the Sheesh Gumbad in the

Lodi Gardens Lodi Gardens is a city park situated in New Delhi. Spread over , it contains Muhammad Shah IV, Muhammad Shah's tomb, the tomb of Sikandar Lodi, the Shisha Gumbad and the Bara Gumbad. These monuments date from the late Delhi Sultanate, during the ...

is actually to be identified with his tomb. Simon Digby, ''The Tomb of Buhlul Lodi'', The Bulletin of SOAS, Vol. 38, No. 3, 1975, pp. 550–61.

Marriages

Bahlul married two times: * Shams Khatun, daughter of Malik Sultan Shah Lodi, his first cousin; * Bibi Ambha, daughter of a

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

goldsmith

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lodi, Bahlul 1489 deaths Sultans of the Lodi dynasty 15th-century Indian monarchs 15th-century Indian Muslims People from Delhi Indian people of Pashtun descent Year of birth unknown People from Dera Ismail Khan District

Early life

Reign

Marriages

See also

References